3 bodies found after blast

Nation & World Report

GARNER -- Search teams recovered three bodies from the unstable wreckage of a Slim Jim snack factory Wednesday, one day after an explosion knocked down parts of the roof and an exterior wall.

Crews in bulky hazard suits brought out two bodies in the afternoon after retrieving the remains of Barbara McLean Spears, 43, of Dunn before dawn. Garner Police Sgt. Chris Clayton named the other two victims as Rachel Mae Poston Pulley, 67, and Lewis Junior Watson, 33, both of Clayton.

Workers will try to remove parts of an exterior wall that had fallen onto vehicles nearby and continue searching the building for possible victims. But authorities only knew of the three employees who were missing.

The unexplained explosion ripped through the 500,000-square-foot ConAgra Foods Inc. plant while 300 people were at work.